With Melody Sky by Matt Barr

I love a good podcast and I definitely have my go to’s. One of my greatest pleasures is taking a break from work and go for a walk with a podcast just to move my body and learn something new. One of my favourite podcasts is the Looking Sideways podcast which is presented by my good friend Matt Barr. Matt is a journalist and co-Director of All Conditions Media who seeks to uncover the most interesting stories in action sports and other related endeavours.

And he’s got the know how and the network to set him up to produce the best action sports podcasts there is. He’s been working in the industry for over twenty years, and in that time has interviewed athletes and written about action sports for everybody from the Times to Transworld Snowboarding. Matt is very clever in the way he conducts interviews and his questions dig deep and don’t just follow the same generic pre-formulated questions as many of the other podcasts out there today.

When Matt first started the podcast he asked if he could have me on it. My answer was an immediate no. I was not confident and got so nervous being interviewed or being being in the spotlight. Matt looked disappointed but he had plenty of other people to chat with. I watched Matt’s podcast go from strength to strength and the list of people on the show more and more elite. So when Matt asked me again, I said an absolute no again. The more success he had and the bigger names he had on, the further I was running. He did ask again and by this time I really wanted to go on and I was annoyed at myself for not being able to bring myself to say yes. His podcast had got so good and the guests got to such a high level that it was even worse for me. I told him to ask again and I would prepare myself and say yes. So after 5 years of this, when I said no one more time, he said that was it, he was giving up. I was both relieved and disappointed at the same time.

But we have finally done it! This winter and I said yes! Today the podcast went live and I am terrified. I feel that dread again. But this time it’s because I’m scared I sound like a crazy person. I don’t think we really spoke about action sports that much at all, but rather imposter syndrome, generational trauma, Artificial Intelligence, the voice in our heads and some other random weird stuff. It was a bit random and honest. But there’s no going back now.

Matt, you are the best. I feel that you might have liked to talk more about the life in the outdoors and sport, but maybe my intense month around the UK had made my brain melt down. It was so good to catch up with you and have a chat by the ocean. But I am more than ready to repair any damage on your reputation or mine by coming on again. It was fun! It will take me a couple of weeks to brave listening to it…

Please take some time to check out the Looking Sideways podcast. You won’t regret it. And Matt is not one to just have one podcast, but he has two. In 2019 he launched the Patagonia Type 2 podcast in association with Patagonia. In this podcast he explores the intersection between the outdoors, action sports and activism. Enjoy!